Mumbly Peg Game Research...

Codger_64

Codger_64

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For many generations of American boys, a part of growing up has been their ownership of a simple, inexpensive jackknife. It was more than a toy, a symbol of their journey to manhood, a first real tool. Between the scales and liners it held the promise of adventure, utility, creativity, protection, and fun. American youth were an important target market for most cutlerys, as witnessed by surviving advertisements from the late 1800's through the 1960's. Even the military utility knives from the Second World War forward were styled after the familiar “Scout” knife, with it’s rich assortment of blades.

It was indeed a simpler age when a parent would trust a seven year old boy with his first knife, a real one with sharpened blades and no parental supervision, kevlar gloves, safety goggles, or even warning labels. Entry level knives were made with children’s budgets and eye appeal in mind. “Hero” knives were popular and nearly every company made a few emblazoned with Boone, Crockett, Hopalong Cassidy, the Lone Ranger.

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These inexpensive knives like the Jackmasters (sometimes called “Tony Galentos”, after a squat prizefighter of the 1930's with a big round belly) were passports to adventure for many young boys. Apples and oranges, peanut butter sandwiches filled lunch sacks, not so much because we liked them, but because they offered us the opportunity to show off our dexterity with our new knives at school. Yep. At school. Peel an entire apple in one long thin strip. Slice an orange into eighths to demonstrate fractions in math class. Share your sandwich with your buds or favorite girl in grand fashion. And then there was recess!

Recess was where the creativity with the knife came into it’s own. Made-up games like stretch and chicken abounded, but Mumbly-Peg was the king of the playground.

So, what was the origin of Mumbly Peg? According to Webster's Online Dictionary "mumblety peg" or "mumble the peg" entered the English language around 1630. I’ve read speculation that it was originally an English sailor’s game, but also seen mention that it dates back to the early Greeks. This one came from a game rule sheet produced by Camillus accompanying their trademarked Mumbly Peg jackknife in 1959. American linguists have made an entire study or regional dialects, and variations of the name “Mumbly Peg” is one of the words they recorded. Here is one 2001 Harvard survey done in by Bert Vaux, professor of linguistics, now at University of Wisconsin:
Q: What do you call the game wherein the participants see who can throw a knife closest to the other person (or alternately, get a jackknife to stick into the ground or a piece of wood)?
a. mumblety-peg (8.07%)
b. mumbledy-peg (8.69%)
c. mumbly peg (10.84%)
d. mumbly pegs (0.47%)
e. mumblely peg (with 2 l's) (1.81%)
f. mumble peg (0.23%)g. mummety-peg (0.02%)
h. mumble-the-peg (0.00%)
i. fumbledy peg (0.00%)
j. numblety peg (0.22%)
k. peggy (0.02%)
l. baseball jackknife (0.16%)
m. stick-knife (1.01%)
n. stick-frog (0.16%)
o. stretch (1.14%)
p. chicken (2.94%)
q. knifey (0.11%)
r. splits (0.49%)
s. Russian roulette (1.90%)
t. I have never heard of this "game" and have no idea what it's called (51.32%)
u. other (state here if you have heard one or more of these terms but never knew what they meant) (10.39%)

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Danial C. Beard, co-founder of the Boy Scouts of America (1850-1941) set down a list of rules for the game in his 1890 book “American boy’s Handy Book”, well illustrated with descriptions of the “Feats”. While he did not assign them all names, he showed a total of twenty four in order. The one actually given name was “plowing the field”.

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If I understand correctly, Mr. Beard did his own illustrations. These are from the scout’s game book by Beard.

http://www.inquiry.net/outdoor/games/beard/mumbly_peg.htm

Camillus Cutlery, in a brochure accompanying their “Mumbly Peg” tangstamped jackknife in 1959, gave some of their 14 basic moves (some repeated left, right) names: Palm, Back, fists, cat’s cradle, high dive, through the well, pennies, nickels, Tony Chestnut, spank the baby, Johnny jump the fence, ears, over the shoulder, O-U-T OUT.


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While Camillus copyrighted the name “Mumbly Peg” and used it as a tang stamp, other cutlerys also used variations of the name. A Kingston Stags Head knife had an attached rule sheet naming the game “Mumble-T-Peg”. An example may be seen in an article written in the March 2004 OKC Newsletter article by Bernard Levine.

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Soldiers dated 1944


And many a codger remembers the game as well, though there was no end to the variations to the “feats” and rules.

The following series of stunts is that considered as official by the National Recreation Association.

Penknife Rules (Long Game):

Front..--Knife on palm of right hand with blade toward finger tips, toss knife upward and inward causing blade to stick in ground.
Back.--Place knife on back of right hand and toss as for front.

Punch.--Make a fist with right hand. Place knife handle across the fingernails with blade toward thumb; twist hand quickly toward the left sticking blade into the ground.

Snaps.--Hold blade between thumb and forefinger of left hand with handle pointing toward the right. Strike the handle downward sharply with right hand, causing blade to stick into the ground.
Seven Pennies.--Hold blade between thumb and first finger of right hand with handle away from contestant and snap knife away from tosser, sticking it into the ground. This must be done seven times in succession.

Around the Horn.--Hold blade of knife between the index finger and thumb of right hand, as for Pennies, and swing the knife, with handle toward the ground, around the head from left to right; then snap away from tosser as in Seven Pennies.

Shave the Peg.--Place blade between the first and second fingers and hold with thumb, have handle pointing away from body and point of blade toward person tossing; snap knife away from tosser.

Cut Left.--Hold knife as for Pennies and snap downward across left arm striking left wrist with the right.

Cut Right.--Opposite to Cut Left.

Headings.--Same as for Seven Pennies except the handle of the knife is touched against the forehead before snapping.

Chinnings.--Same as Headings except that chin is touched with handle.

Snaps.--See Rule 4; must be done three times in succession.

Drop In and Pull Out.--Hold knife handle between thumb and forefinger of right hand and drop the knife through a hole made by touching the tips of the forefinger and thumb of the left hand. After blade sticks in ground, pull knife back through the hole by the blade with the handle touching ground and the index finger and thumb holding blade; snap as in Seven Pennies.

Shave the Barber.--Hold left hand with palm in and little finger toward the ground. Place knife flat against the palm of left hand with cutting edge toward tosser and handle toward the ground. With the fingers of the right hand pull blade of knife toward the contestant, giving a downward snap.
Lady Dives.--Hold right hand vertical with back of it toward the players; place point of knife against the heel of the hand and the handle against the fingertips; push upward and forward, giving a loop effect to the knife.

Pinwheel--With the handle at right angles to the right hand and the arm at right angles to the body, hold the point of the blade loosely between thumb and first finger; flip the knife toward the left with a downward push of the thumb.

Kick 'Em Out.--Place handle of knife flat on palm of left hand with the blade protruding over the little finger side; strike blade downward with right hand.
Cop's Club.--Hold knife as for Seven Pennies, but flip toward tosser. Immediately strike upward with same hand causing knife to spin in opposite direction.

Tony Chestnut.--Starting at toe place point of blade on end of shoe and snap away from player. Repeat same at knee, again at the chest, and then from front part of the head. The toe may be elevated and the point of the knife may be placed against thumb when snapping from chest.

Fingers.--Same as Pennies except that the blade is held between the thumb and each finger consecutively and two snaps are made with the first finger and thumb and one with the second, third and little fingers.
Johnny Jump the Fence.--Stick knife into ground at an angle and about one foot away place left hand with palm toward the knife and little finger touching the ground; with the right hand strike the knife up and forward, causing it to go over the left hand or fence and stick into the ground.

O-U-T Period.--Place point of knife on left wrist and with right thumb and forefinger on top of knife snap to ground; at the same time say "0," repeat at elbow and say "U," repeat at shoulder and say "T." Make a fist as in "Punch" and place knife along fingernails with blade toward little finger side; twist wrist inward quickly and say "period." These last four stunts must be performed consecutively in order to complete the game.

Michael
 
A fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable read, Michael. Makes me wish for simpler days.

Thanks for sharing.
 
I remember playing this and remember the occasional submerged rock and a dull dirty knife.
It's a wonder we didn't get a knife in the well worn canvas sneaker.
 
We also played mumbly peg in east Texas, growing up. My grand dad taught us. He said they played it to kill time in the trenches in WW1.
 
We played it in Grand Rapids, Mi. The usual knife was the 4 bladed scout knife.
 
My knife would've been my first, an Imperial fishing or toothpick knife, yellow shell handles of course.
 
Played mumbly-peg a little as a kid here in Georgia. My recollection of the rules is somewhat vague. I also remember playing a game where you and the other participant stood facing each other with feet spread shoulder-width apart. You would throw the knife in-between their feet and if it stuck they had to slide their right foot in towards the knife. Usually the game ended when someone declined to let you throw.
 
Yep, that is what we called "chicken". "Stretch" went the other way until one guy fell over stretching too far.
 
Fantastic thread Codger, full of information, and wonderfully illustrated :thumbup: I've always been very interested to read about this game here on this forum. Here in England, we called it 'Splits', and I'd say that when I was young it was by far the most popular game played by boys, and by many girls. I can't remember who taught me how to play it, but it may even have been my mother! I can certainly remember playing it as a very small child. The way it was played here was the 'stretch' type game, which didn't last long, but also required a small degree of knife-throwing skill and calculation. It was a lot of fun :)
 
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